Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2014 - London

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Smiljan Radić

I have been visiting the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion every summer since 2007. This year is the 14th year that a renown architect that hasn't built yet a building in the UK is commissioned to design a temporary pavilion in Hyde Park, next to the Serpentine Gallery. 

This year's pavilion will be open until the 19th October. If you haven't visited it yet and would like to see it, I would recommend you to go before the 25th August so you can enjoy the Marina Abramovic performance for the same price. 

Picture by @alambiLAB

Decorative tiles: cement tiles and other options

With this post we want to open a new section of the blog where we will be giving you some tips and ideas for your projects.

Today we will talk about decorative tiles: an old fashion that is coming back. We can find this type of tiles at different prices and used in different ways giving a touch of colour to our homes.

• Cement Tiles

In this project Foreign Bear Studio uses hydraulic cement tiles to mark out spaces. On the left image the tiles are defining a semi-exterior space connected to the courtyard and on the right image the tiles mark out the dinning area like a rug would do.

Cement tiles used by Foreign Bear Studio 

In both cases the cement tiles are combined with concrete flooring.

Mosaic del Sur not only offers a great variety of patterns but they also offer the possibility to design your own mosaics and they will manufacture them in 3 to 5 weeks. These tiles are made in Spain, a country with long tradition in manufacturing this type of tiles. 

U House

We can now see the skeleton of Casa U

Picture by @alambiLAB

U House

The construction of  Casa U continues at a good pace.

Picture by @alambiLAB

In this picture you can see the garage which is almost finished and how the foundations are laid for the rest of the house.

Extension of the Cultural Centre in Pedreguer

A while ago we announced that alambiLAB would be the architectural practice to design the new extension of the Cultural Centre in Pedreguer.

Today we would like to show you and image that suggests how this extension is going to be.

Extension of the Cultural Centre in Pedreguer. Image from @alambiLAB

This is a humble project that will not only provide the Cultural Centre with an extra classroom and some storage space but it will create a small public space to carry out some of the activities of the Cultural Centre. We are providing the town with a different classroom that will allow the contact with the outdoors.

The storage area will have a U-glass cladding that will work as a lantern and will light up the square at night.

With the new extension and public space we hope to reinvigorate this forgotten space in town.

We hope you like it! 

U House

We are on-site!
We have now started the construction of the U House in Beniarbeig (La Marina Alta)

Picture by @alambiLAB

Shigeru Ban (or the Architect that builds with paper) wins Pritzker Prize 20014

Shigeru Ban
picture extracted from Dezeen

This morning I've had a very nice surprise when I saw that the the Japanese Architect Shigeru Ban has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, the most important Architecture Award.

Shigeru Ban is an architect that I've admired since I discovered his work back in 2002 when I was studying my second year at the architecture school.

What it surprised me the most was the use of paper and cardboard as a construction material and his interest in volunteering by designing shelters to help people that had been hit by natural catastrophes and therefore, lost their homes.

His first designs for paper-tube structures were used to provide temporary homes for the refugees after the Kobe earthquake in 1995.

Paper Log Houses. Kobe, Japó. 1995

Sketch 1: Jorge Oteiza Museum. Alzuza, Navarra.

Sketch 1: Jorge Oteiza Museum. Alzuza, Navarra.

With this post we would like to start a new section in our blog where we will be posting different sketches that we've been doing for years.

Edifici de la Fundació Oteiza per @alambiLAB

This is a drawing that I made when I visited the Oteiza Museum with some friends from University.
It was a very hectic 24 hours return trip by bus from Barcelona where we spent the night in the bus and woke up in the cold Pamplona. The building designed by the architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza was completely surrounded by snow. As you can imagine, this was a very very quick sketch because it was freezing outside and our hands could not cope with so much cold,...

Trips & Architecture: The Architecture of Berlin and the surroundings.

In this post I would like to show you some images from the buildings I visited when I went to Berlin. Most of the pictures were taken in September 2004 and February 2006.

My intention is to provide you with a mini-guide to the modern architecture of Berlin.

1- Berlin Philharmonic / Hans Scharoun

Berlin Philharmonic @alambiLAB 2006

2- National Library of Berlin / Hans Scharoun

Berlin National Library @alambiLAB 2004

AlambiLAB architects website is now launched!

With this post we would like to invite you all to visit our new website www.en.alambilab.com.
AlambiLAB architects has been working hard these last weeks in order to launch the website on the 25th February to celebrate Enric Miralles birthday.

We have created the website in three languages (English, Spanish and Catalan) so we can communicate with all of you.

We hope to be adding new projects soon!
And we wish you will enjoy browsing through it!

You can click Our Website in the bar above and you will be directed to it.

How @alambiLAB #website looks

We always welcome suggestions and comments to help us improve.
Thank you!

U-Glass in architecture

What is U-glass?

U-glass can also be called profiled glass and it is a channel-shaped glass element with textured surfaces that are produced by casting. 

U-glass was established in the 1980s. It can be used internally and externally and can be installed horizontally or vertically.

Architects like Steven Hall or Mansilla y Tuñon have been using it for many years with great results. 

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
by Steven Hall

The alambiLAB architectural studio will design the new extension for the Cultural Centre of Pedreguer

Extension of the Cultural Centre in Pedreguer

alambiLAB is really proud to announce that we will be designing the extension for the Cultural Centre of Pedreguer.

The project will have one storey and it will be located at the rear of the existing building. The extension will include an area dedicated to classrooms as well as some storage space much needed in the building.

Auditorium Teulada-Moraira

Architecture in la Marina Alta

Few days ago our friend and artist Josep Ginestar exhibited his work in the "III Muestra de Enoturismo y Gastronomía" and it was the perfect excuse to visit the Auditorium of Teulada, a new example of contemporary architecture in our region.

Picture by #alambiLAB

The building was designed by Francisco Mangado an architect from Navarra. It has 5.100 sqm and it was finished in 2011. The auditorium is located in the highest point of Teulada from where it can be seen the town of Moraira, right next to the sea.